Innfo: Operating A Successful B&B
A Guide For The Serious B&B Innkeeper
The ADA and Your B&B:
or
Removing Communication Barriers
May 25, 2005
by Kit Cassingham
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The Americans with Disabilities Act addresses the need for public accommodation to overcome
barriers to effective communication. The type of communication barriers it discusses include
ADA signs in Braille, placement of phones and signs, alarms and alerting devices for the
hearing impaired, and read-out phones. There are many disability, or accessible, aids for you
to consider in your B&B. Do what you can to keep the ADA law firm practices out of your inn
and comply with the ADA now.
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Last month we reviewed how your inn needs to comply with Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA) regarding architectural barriers. The questions asked at the beginning of that
article are just as relevant for communication barriers. Let me repeat them: Is your B&B inn ADA compliant?
Do you have disabled people using your compliant guestroom(s)? Why do we have such requirements? How can you
use this law to attract more guests?
To summarize, the ADA was intended to protect the civil rights of
people who have physical and mental disabilities. The ADA regulations sometimes require the modification of
facilities and the way that products or services are provided for the purpose of making your facility
accessible to more people. This month we'll talk about what modifications you have to make in your
communications to accommodate people with disabilities.
The ADA defines a disability as "a physical or mental impairment
that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of an individual." Major life activities
include seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, walking, dexterity, mobility, etc. There are disabilities
beyond being in a wheelchair.
Title III of the ADA code requires private businesses open to the
public to allow individuals with disabilities to participate equally in the offered goods and services. The
bottom line is, "readily achievable" accommodations must be made for disabled guests. Planning ahead lets
you incorporate accessible elements within budget and have rooms looking warm and welcoming..
For ADA compliance, B&B innkeepers with 1-25 guestrooms need to:
- make all newly constructed buildings and facilities readily accessible
- make all altered portions of existing buildings and facilities readily accessible
- remove all barriers to accessibility in existing buildings and facilities when it is "readily
achievable" to do so.
Alterations that impact your plans for accessibility include
rehabilitation, remodeling, renovation, restoration, reconstruction, and changes or rearrangement in
structural parts or elements or in the configuration of walls and partitions. Twenty percent of the total
alteration budget must be spent on accessibility. For example, if you have budgeted $10,000 on combining two
guestrooms into one, $2,000 needs to be spent on providing accessible accommodations.
Communication barriers include signs, phones and alarms. Signs (on
and in elevators, bathrooms, and guestrooms) that lack Braille or are placed so that a seated person can't
read them are not ADA compliant; add Braille signage, and pay attention to placement. As an aside, it's
ironic that few blind people, only about 10%, actually read braille. Phones without text capability or that
are mounted high on a wall don't comply with the ADA. Alarms that provide only audio alerts can be made
compliant by adding a visual alert.
Consider website accessibility and making computers you provide
for guests ADA compliant as well. This isn't covered in the disability law, but now that they are prevalent
it's prudent to make accommodation there too.
Providing auxiliary aids and services (instruments and devices
that ensure effective communication) will make your B&B compliant. At least one of the following must be
available for a B&B’s guestrooms:
- text telephones (and you have to have one at the front desk so
you can communicate with the hearing or speech impaired guest)
- closed caption TV decoders
- visual alarm smoke detectors
- visual alert for a ringing phone
- or visual door knock alerting devices.
The beauty of these devices is they can be moved to any guestroom
to make it accessible, not just installed in the accessible room. By providing portable devices you can
offer access to more guests.
It is important to remember that individuals with disabilities may
not be charged for the costs providing accessibility. To encourage businesses to make "reasonable
accommodations" and to lessen the financial impact of compliance, a 50% tax credit has been provided to
eligible small businesses (gross sales of less than $1 million or less than 30 full-time employees) for
qualified expenditures ($250-$10,500 for the alteration of existing buildings).
There are four ways that people with physical disabilities can be
accommodated by mixing and matching alternative measures:
- architecture
- equipment
- changing the program/location
- personal assistance or service.
The issue of service animals is an interesting challenge because
of allergy issues. People with disabilities are allowed service animals, regardless of your pet policy --
dogs, pigs, monkeys, and horses are among the animals that can be trained and used as service animals.
Period. That means you then have a room that's been "contaminated" by an animal's presence, future guests
need to be advised of the allergy potential. A solution I've observed is to establish one room as both the
accessible guestroom and the room that allows pets. It is acceptable to get a note from a doctor to verify
the need for the service animal (and then apply common sense so you don't end up with an untrained -- in
every sense of the word -- animal passing for a service animal). Though I've been told it's "illegal" to ask
for proof of the animal's service training, most disabled people carry their service animal's records with
them.
Here is my summary of the ADA:
- This is a Civil Rights law. It is not a Building Code (though some locals
have built the law into their building codes)
- More restrictive local laws take precedence over the Federal law
- You must have a minimum of one auxiliary aid
- The disability types include mobility, sensory, and dexterity
Here are some additional thoughts and points:
- Have an ADA question on your reservation form.
- Length of stay and level of services affect this law.If you offer transportation, it must be accessible to disabled people.
- GOOD faith effort is the key to your defense if charged with discrimination.
- All new construction must comply to the ADA laws.Market your accessible rooms, to both the disabled community and to travelers wanting
the style of luxury you create in your accessible guestrooms.
Exemptions for B&Bs are that if your inn has fewer than six
guestrooms (five and fewer) in one building (more than five rooms or rooms spread out over more than one
building means you aren't exempt), and you are owner occupied, you don't have to comply with the ADA. And
if you realize you are exempt, consider complying any way and cater to all people of various physical and
mental abilities.
This article is necessarily a brief summary. My e-book, Planning Your Business -- Getting a Handle on the
Nuances of Implementing Your Idea, covers it in more detail from a B&B perspective. If you still have
questions, spending some time with a qualified consultant can save you a lot of grief down the road. PAII has a great report you can buy on the ADA for small inns.
For ADA resources, search the internet for various sources. And check
these resources as well.
ADCO Hearing Products, Inc.
800-726-0851
303-794-3928
Nationwide Flashing Signal Systems
301-589-6671
301-589-6670 TTY
Handi-Ramp
800-876-7267
847-680-7700
Dept. of Justice
800-514-0301 (voice)
800-514-0383 (TDD)
HUD-Fair Housing, Information Clearing House
800-699-9777
800-927-9275 TDD
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